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Post by vallery on Dec 20, 2012 16:42:45 GMT
I was getting cuttlebone for my snails, this time the shop sold me sepiabone, which I believe is the same. Aside from putting in a chunk of the bone in the tank for the snails I also scrap some on there dinner plate and some around the tank and they eat it up no problem. I do this with my one leopard slug which also has a few wee baby leopards in the tank some new borns just starting to hatch as well when I got my large leopard slug she was already pregnant and laid eggs about two days after I got her, as I read that leopard slugs have a small shell up near their heads under their skin left over from evolving into slugs from snails. If you feel around there you can actually feel the little shell under their skin of the slugs. Sorry for the mistake someone else actually purchased the sepia bone for me.
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Post by mamatroll on Mar 5, 2013 20:01:44 GMT
In Finland we don´t use eggshells at all, mainly because it doesn´t do any good. Seems like snails digestivesystem can´t use eggshells but it does fill stomach and then snails don´t eat real food. Eggshell -even if it is powder- comes right trough the digestivesystem. Feeding humans calcium pills, I have never heard about that. What different components are in the pill, what are they made of? If there is some additives or some other supplements, are they good for snails? As I look now my own calciumpills, one pill contains : calc.carb 1,25g+400IU d-vitamin+ sorbitol +aspartame +fatty acids +tokoferole +hydraded soybean oil, sucroce +gelatine +cornstarch (which we know is bad for the snails) and some other ingredients. My pills are Calcichew D3 Forte and they taste like mint... It seems like lot of people have feed pills to snails and there have not been any disasters so maybe it is ok then
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Post by vallery on Mar 5, 2013 23:41:13 GMT
Hi mamatroll , Try the cuttlefish bone. you can put a piece in the terrarium and they will rasp on it and sprinkle it on their food. When the piece of cuttlefish bone gets dirty you can just wash it off and dry it and add another piece for your snails. vallery
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Post by mamatroll on Mar 6, 2013 6:56:53 GMT
Hi vallery. I do have cuttlefish bone in every tank Just forget to mention it,I just focused on the eggshell/calciumpill matter. For the babies I use cuttlefishpowder. Every now and then I put the same powder allso for the bigger ones too and after laying eggs snail need a lot of calcium so of course then the "mama" gets some calciumboosted food (I maybe new here,but snails aren´t new to me and I have done my homework before get any pets ;D I still appreciate highly Your advice and that You are giving them such a nice way! It makes a warm and free atmosphere here and people don´t have to be afraid to ask "stupid" questions - though I think there can´t be a stupid questions what comes in pets care!)
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Post by tsrebel on Mar 6, 2013 13:46:02 GMT
Interesting about the eggshells. Do you know why snails are unable to use the calcium from them? Human calcium pills have different additives depending on the brand. One should use the ones with the least possible additives. No citrus taste, D3vitamine only to treat severe shell growth problems.
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Post by vallery on Mar 6, 2013 17:24:17 GMT
Hi mamatroll , I am sorry . I didn't mean to assume you had no experience with snails. My sincere apologies. vallery
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Post by mamatroll on Mar 6, 2013 22:31:09 GMT
Oh no my dear dear vallery. Pleace don´t take it that way, I wrote it just because let everybody know that I´m not just blabbing around but I maybe have some kind of opinion you maybe like to consider That I´m not writing just "because I want it to be this way" but because I have some experience about the matter. So just continue to be lovely You vallery ;D I´ll get back with this calciumthing tomorrow,it´s now 00:30 here in Finland,have to go to bed, boys are going to school at 8 o´clock so must wake up before 7 o´clock... nighty nighty
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Post by mamatroll on Mar 8, 2013 17:14:55 GMT
Ok, I try to explain with my bad english Here in Finland many snailhobbyist have allso tried to use eggshells, allso in powder form. They noticed that snails do eat it but then they did not eat anything else,not until the eggshells came out as poo. Even then you can see that there was eggshells in the poo so it did not digested very well. Eggshellpowder take all the space in the stomachs and if snails eat long enought only eggshells the snail went in bad condition. It got weak. So that´s the reason I don´t use egg shells at all,but I understand if someone try it occasionally, maybe if it is emergency if you can´t manage to get something else just now. Eggshell are maybe too harsh for snails digestivesystem or it contains something what makes it hard for snails to use. DOn´t know - at least not yet I´m now trying to find out if the pounce which sells in the craftshops is pure chalk without any additives. Then you can use that to make some chalkdough. We can buy pounce from a drugstore but it is so expencive there, in craftstores it sells less than 1/3 of drugstore price...
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Post by vallery on Mar 9, 2013 8:41:50 GMT
Hi mamatroll , Thank you for the message you left me. I worry sometimes that I have said the wrong thing. vallery
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Post by feelahthetigress on Mar 10, 2013 15:34:12 GMT
Hey guys, about the calcium pills that I was using, I found some that had no added Vitamin D and were just calcium carbonate and some fillers like cellulose from my local Rite Aid pharmacy. I noticed no ill effects on the snails from using this calcium. I have, recently, however, switched to a different source because I got tired of the pills melting in the tanks due to humidity, plus the cellulose in them would cause them to go moldy after some time.
I now purchase food grade pure calcium carbonate powder off of ebay from a guy called kelp4less and it's original purpose was to be used in wine making (something I know nothing about). It's only $11 for 5 pounds of it (which is cheaper than I could buy cuttle bone here in the US)! Sadly I don't think he ships outside the US, but if you could find a cheap source of calcium carbonate powder then you could use it.
I have started taking the pure calcium carbonate powder and mixing it with water in a 3 parts calcium, 1 parts water ratio. Then I put that in a baking mold of some kind (a muffin pan or a candy mold would do fine). Then I bake it for 2 hours at 200 F. and let it cool afterwards (if you don't want to use the oven you can simply let it air dry for a couple days). This forms a hard block of calcium that holds it's shape in the tank but doesn't melt or go moldy! Yet it is still soft enough that the snails can lick little chunks off of it and they seem to like it a lot. Anyway, this was the perfect alternative I found for my personal desires and needs (I wanted something that wouldn't melt or go moldy, doesn't smell funny like cuttlebones, was inexpensive, and that I could leave as a permanent item in the tank for the snails) and it seems to result in the least waste for me. If you have you're own method you prefer, then go for it, but I thought I'd share this in case it helps somebody!
P.S. - I think the reason that snails don't like powdered eggshells is simply because eggshell is so hard. The pure calcium powder I've dealt with is so soft, so I guess eggshell is hard for them to eat due to it's hardness. That's my theory anyways...
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Post by muddydragon on Mar 10, 2013 17:13:13 GMT
If you reduce the water amount you put in you can air dry them to go into a tank after an hour or two but you have to get it just right a bit like when using icing powder to make thick moldable icing or making pastry. (may help save you some time?)
A good cheap way to get pure limestone flour (bulk buy) is to go to a shop which sells horse items. I bought a big tub of NAF (NAF is the supplier i don't mean naff as in rubbish it's infact excellent!) pure limestone flour and i've been using that now for YEARS and it lasts forever if you keep it dry (which is easy in the airtight tub it's supplied in). and i assume that there are horse places pretty much everywhere worldwide so it may be worth a try?
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Post by mamatroll on Mar 10, 2013 19:28:03 GMT
Feelahthetigress: sounds very good that what you´re doing!
muddydragon: We have had here allso some discussions about that limestone for horses. Here it´s one addivite to a horse fodder but it sells separately allso. Many snailhobbyists here have notised though that the limestone here is too rough for snails. So quite many buys limestone powder from drugstores and wow, it´s expencive there! That is the one reason why I´m now trying to find out can we use carftstores pounce for snails. Luckily cuttlefish bones can be purchased nearly everywhere.
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Post by vallery on Mar 13, 2013 17:34:21 GMT
Hi , My cousin once purchased sepia bone for my snails instead of cuttle fish bone. Does anyone know if there is a difference. vallery
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Post by tsrebel on Mar 13, 2013 18:11:07 GMT
It is the same, just different languages. Sepia is latin, cuttlefish is english.
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Post by vallery on Mar 13, 2013 18:41:57 GMT
Thank You tsrebel , vallery
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Post by vallery on Mar 16, 2013 5:45:58 GMT
What about vegetables that are a good calcium source? I believe Kale is a really good one. Does anyone have anymore suggestions for the type of calcium source from vegetables with the highest source of calcium? vallery
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Post by morningcoffee on Mar 16, 2013 8:22:52 GMT
What about vegetables that are a good calcium source? I believe Kale is a really good one. Does anyone have anymore suggestions for the type of calcium source from vegetables with the highest source of calcium? vallery Kelp, okra, soybeans, broccoli, almonds, turnip greens, brazil nuts, dried apricots, figs, parsley, watercress and taro are all quite high in calcium
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Post by vallery on Mar 16, 2013 8:53:28 GMT
Wow! Excellent morningcoffee Thank You , I have some dried apricots. Should they be soaked at all first? Or sliced open? vallery
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Post by morningcoffee on Mar 16, 2013 9:22:18 GMT
Wow! Excellent morningcoffee Thank You , I have some dried apricots. Should they be soaked at all first? Or sliced open? vallery I would slice them open to encourage the snails to eat, but I don't think they need to be soaked. If the snails won't eat, maybe try soaking then
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Post by vallery on Mar 16, 2013 20:54:10 GMT
Hi morningcoffee , So I just put some dried sliced in half apricots in my Cepaea/Heath tank and my Pleurodonte isabella tank so I will update how they like it. So far one of my largest Cepaea is having a little munch on one of the slices. Thank You vallery
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Post by vallery on Mar 16, 2013 21:27:24 GMT
So I just checked in on the snails and how they are doing with the dried apricot slices and it looks like it is a big hit with the Cepaea. The Heath and the Pleurodonte haven't touched it yet. So good news with the Cepaea ;D vallery
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